


Between Two Lungs

by gotatheory



Series: OQ Fix It Week [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi, OQ Fix It Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-23 05:41:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12500060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gotatheory/pseuds/gotatheory
Summary: Maleficent and Regina search for a way to bring Robin back to them.





	Between Two Lungs

**Author's Note:**

> For Day 3 of OQ Fix It Week: Quest to Bring Robin Back Day. This is separate from my usual DOQ verse, and so it is not Flicker Beat compliant. But just assume that canon stayed mostly the same but at some point these three formed a relationship together before Robin died.

Things were not supposed to end this way. Regina and Robin were soulmates, destined, bound by pixie dust and a lion tattoo. Maleficent knows about soulmates, it’s a magic as old as she is, and this is wrong. Very wrong. Regina is blank beside her, has barely said a word since it happened, and Maleficent might think her heart is no longer in her chest if it wasn’t for the deep well of pain she can see in her eyes. She’s seen her like this before, remembers the young queen’s face when she was hurting most over her lost love and all Snow White took from her.

(Everyone knows it, too, can recognize the mask of the Evil Queen when it’s staring them in the face. Maleficent has never hated this town more than today, in this moment, when all eyes are on Regina like she is a woman to be feared instead of consoled. She is _mourning_.)

Their children are beside them, forming a cluster of support, Snow and David and Emma and her blasted pirate (why does _he_ get to cheat death but Robin doesn’t?) orbiting around. The Merry Men, too, and even Zelena, at the back, and Mal almost roasted her on the spot. Such audacity to come to his funeral after everything she did to him and Roland in New York, and how she didn’t even apologize to him, not even once. 

The service is ending, and now they’re supposed to place arrows and flowers on Robin’s casket, and Maleficent cannot do this. Regina has lost her soulmate, but Mal feels it like she has lost her own too, a hole in her chest opening up and she’s not sure how to fix it.

She resolves to find a way.

Mal doesn’t bother stopping by Granny’s afterwards, forgoes the wake they’re supposed to have because she can’t do this any longer. She’s going to find a way to bring him back, to repair what the universe has broken.

(This is grief, she knows, a refusal to accept what has happened. It’s the very thing she had cautioned against when Emma insisted on retrieving her fucking pirate from the Underworld. Perhaps this is some sort of poetic irony to teach her a lesson, but she’ll reject that too.)

She goes straight down into Regina’s vault, pushes down the well of sadness that rises within her at being here. It’s a special place for them, as macabre as that sounds. She knows this is where Robin and Regina had their first time, and then she and Regina had reunited here when he was in New York. Eventually, they had christened it too, all three of them together when they had somehow fallen into this relationship.

But this is where Regina keeps most of her magical items and tomes, and so she pushes away the memories and instead starts going through Regina’s things. She doesn’t even know what she’s looking for, but she’s determined. She’ll find something. She knows she will.

There’s no telling how much time passes down here in the vault, considering there are no windows, and she doesn’t tire as easily as humans. Doesn’t need to eat, her body capable of fueling itself with fire and magic. But eventually someone comes looking for her — Regina, she knows, recognizes the sound of her footsteps, not to mention no one else would look for her down here.

“Mal,” Regina calls out to her, and her heart twists at the wrecked sound of her voice. It’s hoarse, and broken, and absolutely miserable. “What are you — what are you doing down here?”

She looks up at her then, drags her gaze from the massive Elvish spellbook she was reading to Regina’s face, something that proves to be a mistake. Whereas at the funeral Regina had been impassive, carefully blank, now her mask has slipped. She looks every bit as cracked in two as she sounds, any evidence of tears wiped away but her face betrays her with eyes rimmed with red and telltale puffiness.

That twisted feeling in her chest deepens, plummets at seeing Regina so torn, knowing she’s still trying to hold herself together.

“You weren’t at the wake, and no one knew where you went.”

Mal’s eyes narrow, because something is wrong — besides the obvious, anyway. Regina is upset, of course, but she thinks there’s something else, too. Something that’s only confirmed when Regina continues, “I needed you there.”

That has Mal setting the book aside, rising to her feet so she can grasp Regina’s hand in one of her own, the other cupping her face as she presses her forehead to hers. “I’m sorry,” she murmurs, pulling back enough that she can see her eyes properly. “I didn’t mean to abandon you, but I couldn’t… I couldn’t be there anymore.”

Regina exhales shakily as emotion spills out of her, anger and hurt and sadness flickering in her eyes too quickly for Mal to process them. “John came to speak to me. At Granny’s, when I was — when I was alone. He wants to take Roland.”

“What?” Maleficent blinks, her hand still cupping her face, thumb swiping at her fallen tears. “Take him where?”

“They want to g-go back to the Enchanted Forest.” Regina’s breath hitches, her entire face screwing up in agony, and Mal watches as her hand creeps toward her chest, pressing to her sternum. It doesn’t sink in, but she knows it’s a near thing, so she catches those fingers in her own, squeezing. Reassuring her that she’s there. “They want to take him, because they don’t want to be here anymore, and they said it’s not safe for him… That _I’m_ not safe for him.”

Maleficent regrets it now, that impulse that led her down here, when she should have been at Regina’s side so that she could barbecue that jackass Little John for doing this to Regina now, of all times.

“I’m so sorry, Regina, I should have been there,” she murmurs, squeezing her eyes shut a moment. When she opens them, she continues, “But the Merry Men aren’t going to have to take Roland anywhere. I’m going to find a way to bring Robin back.”

Regina stares at her, teary-eyed and face frozen in shock. “Mal,” she says breathlessly, voice cracking, “Mal, you can’t. He’s _gone_. Magic can’t bring back the dead.”

“Oh really?” She raises an eyebrow, waves her hand to indicate herself. “I’m standing here, aren’t I? And what about Hook? He was dead and yet at this very moment I’m sure he’s mooning over his precious savior.”

And yes, she is _angry_ over that, so angry she thinks smoke might come from her nostrils because Robin was taken away from her, from them, and Hook gets life given back to him for nothing at all.

Regina shakes her head, though, her tears drying as she thinks more seriously about this. “That’s different, you’re a dragon, and Hook was brought back by a god—” Mal snorts derisively, but Regina is having none of it as she repeats, “It’s different. Robin can’t come back. He was obliterated, his soul destroyed…” The mask cracks again, her entire expression crumpling as she repeats Hades’ words.

“I will find a way. Dragon magic is very old, very powerful. I am going to bring him back to us and to his family, Regina,” she promises, squeezing Regina’s hand again. “I just have to find the way.”

It takes her a few days to find what she’s looking for, a few days and a handful of intimidating conversations with John and the other Merry Men to keep them from leaving, and a fair few trips to the convent to bully information from the fairies. She even visits Rumplestiltskin at his shop, goes through several frustrating, circular conversations until she feels like she’s banging her head against a wall. In the end, she finds it, a recipe and a spell, and another three days pass (and more conversations with the Merry Men, these more on the side of begging than intimidating) before everything is set.

They’ve gotten lucky, in that it’s not a ritual that must be performed on the equinox or something more time specific than “during a full moon.” So she gathers her supplies, and brews the potion as directed the day of the casting, and then she summons everyone to Regina’s vault. Everyone being Regina herself, but also Emma Swan and Tinkerbell and even Zelena. It’s going to take a lot of magic to pull this off.

Robin’s body lies on a stone slab, magically excavated and covered in a sheet. Looking at it — at _him_ — still sends a shiver down Maleficent’s spine, makes her feel cold with a crushing sadness she has only felt one other time. The sight stops the others in their tracks, too, Tinkerbell audibly gasping when she comes in and sees the distinct outline through the sheet. Regina studiously avoids looking at it, her eyes landing on everything but the slab.

“Thank you for coming,” Maleficent says, almost as a formality. She is grateful, but she’s eager to move on, to get this over with so she and Regina can have Robin back, so Roland can have his father back. She explains the ritual — the potion she has to pour over Robin’s heart, the spell they have to cast, the magic they have to use. How all they have to do is concentrate and feed their magic to her, and she’ll do all the hard work.

It’s as she’s going to pull the sheet from Robin — she needs to see him for this, has to focus on his entire being — that Regina reaches out, catching her wrist. “Can we talk a moment?” she whispers, her eyes pained, and Maleficent tells her gently _Of course_ , letting her lead the way to another section of the vault.

Mal isn’t surprised when the first thing she says is, in a rush, “Maybe we shouldn’t do this.” She sighs Regina’s name, cupping her face in one hand, bending down to kiss her quickly. Before she can say anything else, Regina is continuing, her words confirming what she already knew: “I don’t want to lose you, too, I don’t think I… I can’t survive that, too. Not now, not when I’ve just—”

She kisses her again, cutting her off. “You’re not going to lose me, Regina,” she promises, sealing it with another peck. “I’m not going anywhere. But I am going to bring him back to us, to his family. We need him. Roland needs him.”

“All magic comes with a price, Maleficent,” Regina argues, her hands gripping Mal’s hips tightly, bunching in the fabric of her skirt. “And if anyone should pay it to bring Robin back, it should be _me_.”

“I know the price I’m going to pay. I’m ready to do it — and I’ll come back to you,” she says, staring into her eyes and willing her to believe her. “And Robin is coming back to us.”

She hates to see Regina’s eyes fill with tears, but she has to do this. She knows she can. Pressing her forehead to Regina’s, she murmurs, “Trust me. Believe in me.”

“I do,” Regina breathes shakily, her voice hitching. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she says before kissing her, not the pecks from before. She kisses her with all the love she feels for her, for Robin, before she releases her.

Regina steels herself, her mask slipping back into place, and they return to the room with the others. The ritual is deceptively simple: a full moon, a potion, an incantation Mal has to recite. It’s not going to be nearly so easy, especially when the first act involves pulling the sheet away from Robin’s body, and even Maleficent’s hand trembles at the sight of him lying motionless. He’s so still, his eyes closed, and she hates seeing him like this.

Mal takes a moment to share a pained glance with Regina, and then she’s plunging her hand into Robin’s unmoving chest. She can’t even look at it — catches a glimpse before she’s looking away from her palm, unable to stand seeing the gray, lifeless heart in her hand. Regina passes her the unstoppered potion vial, their fingers brushing and lingering longer than necessary.

She stares in Regina’s eyes, because in case this does go terribly wrong, she wants her face to be the last one she sees. A breath, another, and then she’s tipping the potion over Robin’s heart, reciting the incantation she knows off by heart. She gets caught up in the magic flowing through her — hers and the magic of others, she can feel it swirling through the room, igniting in her veins. Everything becomes a blur of light, a rush of wind, a feeling of tearing herself apart and knitting it back together.

She’s screaming, she thinks, or maybe that’s all in her head. She hopes it is, because Regina does not need to hear that. But she’s getting to the end now, she can feel it, and she’s glowing with power as she clutches the heart in her hand, heat and light sparking in her palms, penetrating the dead organ she holds.

There’s a rush of something — power and the elements and something as old as time itself — and then she’s plunging the heart back into Robin’s chest.

Everything goes still.

Quiet.

Maleficent stares at the body, at Robin, as her hand draws back, the heart remaining in its proper place.

His eyes are closed. His chest is still unmoving.

Everything is still, and silent, except for the blood pounding in Maleficent’s ears as she stares at his too-still body. She’s failed, and she doesn’t know what to do now, and Emma breaks the silence with Regina’s name. Regina is trembling, tears already forming in her dark eyes, but her voice is surprisingly even when she orders, “Get out.”

“Sis,” Zelena tries, and Maleficent hates that she invited her here, that she asked for her help when this is partially her fault. But Regina doesn’t let Zelena say anything else, cutting her off with a louder, “Leave us!”

Maleficent doesn’t watch them leave, but she hears them, the shuffle of feet against the stone floor of the vault. Her eyes are locked on the body, on Robin’s body.

All the breath leaves her as realization dawns, as her mind races with _It didn’t work_ and _I’ve failed_ and _No_. She thinks she says that last one out loud, gasps it as her heart rends in her chest and then—

It’s subtle at first, but she just catches it. The slow rise as his lungs fill, and then the gentle fall as he exhales.

“Regina,” she gasps, just as his eyes open, and he sits up with a groan. She’s frozen for a moment, until he looks at them, and then she’s crying, “Robin!”

It’s him, she can see it in his gaze, he’s back. Maleficent rushes over to him, Regina hot on her heels, and throws her arms around his neck.

“You’re back,” she sniffles, and Regina’s echoing it, and telling him to never do this to either of them again.

“How many times do I have to tell you to not get in my way, thief?” Regina tries for sass, but she’s crying, tears tumbling down her cheeks even as a wide smile cuts across her face.

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it, Your Majesty,” Robin manages to tease back, his hand buried in her hair as he presses his forehead to hers. And then he’s turning to Mal, embracing her, murmuring, “And you. You brought me back.”

“Of course,” Maleficent murmurs, though she’s finding it difficult to speak because of the emotions pouring out of her. She’s ecstatic, overflowing with it, but she’s crying too, and she feels more tired than she has in a long while. “You should know a dragon never lets go of her treasures so easily, and I believe I told you that you were mine now.”

“How did you do it?” Robin breathes, scoffing a little when all Mal offers is _Magic_. “But to bring back the dead? How could you — what price could you have had to pay?”

She doesn’t think they’re going to like this, but she tells him anyway. “I have centuries that I was supposed to live, veritable lifetimes, and I gave it up. Offered it in exchange for one lifetime: yours.”

Robin’s face falls, and he shakes his head, saying, “Mal, you didn’t — you shouldn’t give up your life for me.”

“I learned something when we lost you,” she replies, cupping his cheek in her hand, her thumb rubbing over his beard. She’s missed this, touching him, being touched by him. The roughness of stubble beneath her palm and the tender way he holds her, how he looks at her. “I don’t want to go through this again. Through losing you, or Regina, or Henry and Roland. I don’t want centuries without my family.”

“Maleficent,” he starts, his eyes holding a multitude of emotions, but no, the only one she wants to see is happiness. She doesn’t regret what she’s given up, and she doesn’t want him regretting it either, or thinking she’s lost anything.

So she kisses him, silencing his protests before she speaks, “I’ve lived a long life, Robin. I don’t need to live another five hundred years, not when I have you and Regina and our children. I would do it again if I needed to, for any of you.”

Robin melts, she sees the fight bleed out of him, and he kisses her, a tender brush of his lips against hers to seal her declaration. “Then I thank you, even if I don’t entirely agree with you sacrificing a part of yourself,” he says, but he’s smiling now, gaze darting from her to Regina and back again. “I can't believe I’m back. That you two did this. Where’s Roland, where’s my son?”

Regina’s eyes go wide a little, no doubt remembering how Little John wanted to take him, but Mal reaches out and squeezes her hand. That’s all behind them now, it doesn’t matter anymore when they’ve gotten him back. “He's with the Merry Men,” Regina says finally, admitting they kept what they were doing a secret from him, just in case…

“Of course,” he says, and he’s finally rising to his feet, abandoning the stone slab his body rested on. “Can we go get him? I’d like to see him… I can’t imagine what he’s been going through.”

“Of course we can go see your son,” Regina murmurs, reaching out and gripping his hands. Maleficent watches her a moment, studying her face and how different she looks now compared to how she has looked since Robin died. There were shadows in her eyes, darkening her face, but now they're gone, chased away by having Robin back. Maleficent feels it, too, feels the weight lifted off her chest.

She can breathe again.


End file.
